One of the most enlightening things about meeting people and asking them to sign a petition is how many are not registered to vote, or at least claim they are not. I stayed at one place for several hours and in that time 3/4's of the people were unregistered. Workers! Yet they didn't care enough to vote for a better life, they just chose to ride the same horse after it died!
I don't understand the rationale behind that way of thinking. I know people are busy, I know they think their vote doesn't matter, but it does. If I've learned nothing else the past year, it's that every vote matters, and the subject matters. That's why we are in the mess we are in. Not enough people value their voice in how our country operates!
I'm only one lone voice, trying to put some logic back into our government, and I am backed by many people, which I am grateful for. But sometimes it feels like pushing that huge snowball back up the hill, instead of just letting it roll.
Yet on the other hand, I can fully understand. People are tired of politicians and their lies. They have been lied to for so long that politician is a four letter word, and not a good one. They make it so difficult for an average person to break into the game. Why should a party member be required to submit 1,000 signatures and an independent have to submit 2,000? Is it that they want the game all to themselves, thereby discouraging competition? Or are they afraid that someone other than a party member, who can be controlled
by fear of not being reelected, will bring some common sense to Congress? I don't know yet, but I'm getting a strong beginners lesson.
Peace to all.
#Resist2018 dennismoconnor.com

What is a Congress? By definition, the supreme legislative BODY of a nation and especially of a republic. But what in reality is a Congress. Each state having a set amount of congressional delegates determined by population. Of course, each delegate is supposed to bring home the bacon to their district, hence the term "pork barrel projects" And that is to be expected, except when you do that to the detriment of the rest of your countrymen.
Therein lies the paradox. How do you reconcile state versus country? How do you deny or accept a project based on "this is good for my state but it's not really needed except to keep people working and it's bad for the country?
You see, this is another product of the Military-Industrial Complex. Establish critical factories or suppliers in each delegates District, so that each is under the same burden to bring home projects, spread the wealth! Build and spend more than we can afford, but that's OK, we'll just raise the debt limit! That's also why we are near to reaching a point where the interest alone on our debt is just covered by our payments, think about that. Self-sustaining debt!
If we truly had a system, which by the way will never happen, but then again actually did happen with Dwight Eisenhower, whereby we would tax the wealthy appropriately, if we would spread a little of that ill-gotten gains to people who really need it, we could have such a system.
But I digress!

I was asked a very simple question tonight, but it stayed with me, so here it is. If you could change the laws, what would be the way you would pursue it and what laws would you change? We have so many laws on the books, why aren't they effective enough?
I know the answer to that is much more complex than the answer I gave, but the gist of it went like this.
Yes, there are many laws on the books, many of them outdated, outmoded, or simply not effective. Laws are like any other product, they are designed to suit a purpose. Every law ever enacted has effected one group over another. You may not like it, but your neighbor does.
The problem with lawmakers is just that word, lawMAKERS. they spend so much time making new laws that they never revisit laws that were written for a different time and circumstance.
We were of course discussing the hot button of the day, gun laws. Laws are no different than any other product of mankind. they should be revised, amended and evolve to fit the current time. Why is that so difficult to see? Everything evolves, on a daily basis, why is it so difficult to agree to basic laws and amend as needed?
2nd amendment absolutists are just that, absolute that the 2nd amendment was a treatise from God Almighty and you as a mortal man cannot change it. The 2nd amendment was added to the Constitution at a time when we had just declared ourselves free from the Crown, and after a long and bloody war we needed to make sure that we could defend that Constitution. So instead of paying for a standing army, it was left to the citizens to protect their individual states from tyranny. But that home-law, as I will put it, ended up in subjugating others at the will of the militias, which at a later date was turned into lawless bands hunting escaped slaves.
Guns have always played a part in American history, but they never had to deal with the weapons of death that we deal with today. Think about that for awhile and then tell me that we can't amend the gun laws to fit today's society.
And that doesn't mean take away your guns! That is not reality, but a scare tactic used to win elections.
#Resist2018 dennismoconnor.com

To all my friends here in Maine and across the country, I would like to know the answer to this question. Would you like to know what it takes to become a national politician? If I get enough yes answers, I will write a separate blog or on my current blog what steps I am taking to attain office, because quite honestly, it is interesting if you like that sort of thing. If not, just ignore me, I don't mind!
#Resist2018 dennismoconnor.com

Today I drove to Bangor, a 255 mile round trip, to attend a March For Our Lives forum. It was an empty chair town hall and It was quite interesting. I got to meet several of the other candidates and I also didn't get to meet our Representative for the Second District, Bruce Poliquin, because he didn't show up or send a representative to speak for him, which I more or less expected.  I found that what I had to say struck a chord with many there, as they gave each of us 3 minutes to speak.
I just know that I am more energized again and know that I must try hard to get on the ballot, which means I NEED SIGNATURES ON PETITIONS! Anyone in Maine's 2nd District can sign them, as long as they are registered to vote. And if you're not registered, please do so and get involved. The stakes have never been higher!
Children are in fear of going to school, that they are not safe. This is a reality, they are NOT making this up. They have been traumatized by what is occurring. 7 children a day are dying from gun violence, whether it be in a school or on the street corner getting caught in a crossfire from gang violence! This is an epidemic and the United States is the leader of the world in gun deaths!
How much longer?
The NRA has 5 million members. The remainder of the United States is 220 million. Are we going to allow them to continue to stymie all attempts at sensible gun control.
I ask all of you, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, place yourselves in the mind of a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, anyone with children, and picture that dreaded phone call that someone you love, just starting their lives, is dead, killed by a bullet. Not ever coming home, no more I Love You's, no more dirty socks on the floor. Picture them riddled with bullet holes. I don't think you can live with that, or at least don't think you can at the moment. I know I would prefer to die, myself!
This subject is not easy, but we must find a way. People are demanding it and it's not going away. Too many have died already, let's not allow America to be a war zone, because that's what it is becoming. Stop the hateful rhetoric and talk to one another!
No one has the need to open-carry an AR-15, unless they are so insecure in their own lives that they must project those insecurities upon everyone they meet. That is a sad state of affairs! They are nothing but cowardly bullies!
We also talked about mental health and the need for more services. With that I agree, but it will never solve the problem of availability of weapons of war in the hands of citizens that can be used in a fit of anger to kill!

It's spring. And what represents spring more than anything else is it's the time to plant seeds. I try to plant seeds in peoples minds, seeds of reality, seeds of hope that all is not lost. Tonight I did just that. I spent my evening talking to people about why they feel the way they do, about "fake news", and why they believe all news is "fake news". The minds of a good percentage of people have been poisoned to the point of not knowing what to believe. And this is exactly what Josef Goebbels did in Nazi Germany. Turned the people against each other, not necessarily because of ignorance, but because of doubt towards any news organization. Then you have Rupert Murdoch and his minions distorting any and all opinions of his followers, and you have the Sinclair Media Group, which is a right-wing propaganda machine forcing their news anchors to recite the same script nationwide in order to plant seeds of doubt about the media.
And guess what? It's working! Talk about a Manchurian Candidate! Donald Trump is a vessel through which the oligarchs and multi-billionaires hope to destroy America!
They are gaining control of the government and destroying it by pieces, they are gaining control of the media through consolidation and destroying competition through lies, they are gaining control of our resources, like water and oil.
If we don't somehow stop this assault on our lives, in ten years time we may not have to worry about "who's gonna take my guns". You will have already had that battle and lost!
As always, I wish you all peace!
#Resist2018 dennismoconnor.com

He came into the world on February 26th of 2013, screaming as most do. He was surrounded by a room full of family, with GiGi and Grandma Maryanne doing the leg duty.
Now GiGi, well, she's been there for 4 generations of deliveries, including her own. As with all newborns, he was beautiful. They asked mom "wet or dry" and of course it was dry!
His name is Gage Patrick Sarton, and he just became 5 years old. He'll let you know that, too. I"M 5. When he was 4, it wasn't a big deal, but when he became 5, he changed.
I DON'T NEED YOU, PAPA. I can do it myself! He forgot his goggles when we went to the pool last week, so we had to go back and get them. He walked into the house, said where are my goggles? His mother asked where I was, as I was waiting at the mailbox for him. He said "I'm OK" and headed back out the door. One of his favorite things is "can we play on the bed, PaPa"? Then it's on to wrestling and riding the bull or the snake under the pillows fighting his spider! Just looking into that young man's eyes and seeing the pleasure he feels is a great joy to me!
The independence of a 5 year old is amazing, and watching him grow, to be a part of that, is also amazing. I have enjoyed every minute I have spent over the past 5 years, through sickness, babysitting, teaching, and just plain watching him develop.
We bought his first power wheels when he was 1 1/2, and he learned within a few weeks how to drive it. I gave him a lock and key at about the same time. Took him 15 minutes to figure out how to put the key in and unlock it.
I never expected to have the relationship of being a great grandfather, but am very thankful that I do. It has taught me patience that I never had before. It has taught me to be grateful for time with loved ones. But most of all, it has taught me to be the person I always thought I was, but didn't have time to be.
I guess my whole point to this is to not worry about the little things in life, and most things in your life are little things.
Love to all
#Resist2018 dennismoconnor.com

In the ongoing debate about 2nd Amendment rights and common sense gun laws, one of the arguments that is made is "I don't want the government to force me to register my guns, because then they can take them away".
That's not even a good argument, because any gun manufactured and sold has a serial #, and any gun shop that sells that gun writes the serial # down and the name and address of the person that he sold it to.  Bingo! Registered! 
And therein lies the problem of why extremists don't want to close the gun show loophole!  No gun SHOP, no registration
And another reason for guns to end up in the wrong hands and on the street!
We can solve this mass shooting problem by addressing it and making sensible changes to our gun laws. Why shouldn't all gun sellers, public and private, have to adhere to the same standards? Private sellers can't ask for ID, no background check, nothing!
Walk in the door, choose a gun, lay down your cash, NO REGISTRATION, NO BACKGROUND CHECK, NO WAITING PERIOD, buy some extra ammo, a few 30 round clips, and walk out the door!  Go down the street and do your business!
How sane is that?
Don't get me wrong, I am a responsible gun owner, I have 6.
But today's society demands that we make common sense rules that prevent the slaughters that are occurring.
Keep your guns , just take military hardware off the streets! There is no good reason for them except to kill and maim the most victims in the least amount of time! That's not worth the price!